A March head teacher left at half term to take up a new role as the £45,000 deputy director of education for the diocese of Ely.

Rachel Beeson will work across 82 church primary schools, 65 of them in Cambridgeshire, five in Peterborough and 13 in Norfolk.

A job description outlined the commitment of the diocese to ensure “there should be no disconnection between a school’s performance and its Christian ethos”.

Mrs Beeson has been head of All Saints Inter-Church Academy in March for the past eight years and helped switch it from local authority funding to academy status last April. She promised at the time to preserve its joint Catholic and Church of England heritage.

Tricia Pritchard, director of education, said Mrs Beeson “brings a wealth of experience of primary education as a head teacher and nationally accredited local leader in education.

“She is very well placed to assist us in ensuring that children in all our church schools have access to a high quality of education within an environment which reflects our Christian values and the communities that the schools serve.”

Mrs Beeson said: “This is a really exciting time in Ely diocese where education focus is so forward looking and innovative.”

One of her key roles will be work with underperforming schools and “brokering school-to-school support” as well as supporting the development of academies,

Her role also allows her to advise on the appointment of head teachers to including assisting with job descriptions, short listing and interviewing.